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Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin has put forth a motion addressing the parking squeeze in Venice. Bonin in his November 12 motion asked for an increase in the “in-lieu fees” that developers have the option to pay instead of meeting parking requirements for real estate projects. The in-lieu fees were set in the Venice Coastal Zone Specific Plan development guidelines in 1999 at $18,000 per parking space and have not increased over the past 15 years as the area has experienced a real estate boom. “We need to get real about providing meaningful parking solutions in Venice so residents, customers, and tourists are able to park near their homes, businesses, and the boardwalk,” Bonin said Tuesday in...

Google will host a public meeting at its Venice campus Saturday to discuss its expansion plans. The meeting will be held at Google’s offices in the Frank Gehry-designed Binoculars Building at 340 Main Street from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Google has an interior remodel planned for the former Digital Domain space at 320 Hampton Drive. The Internet search giant applied in January for a permit from the city planning department for the project that also will require permission from the California Coastal Commission. The expansion project does not include the landmark Gold’s Gym, said Tom Williams, Google’s Los Angeles site director at the February 18 meeting of the Venice Neighborhood Council. Google applied to add a 13,220-square-foot...

By Paul Chavez Venice Dispatch A developer’s plans for a three-story hotel across the street from Westminster Avenue Elementary School was narrowly approved Tuesday night by the Venice Neighborhood Council’s board despite vocal public opposition. The council’s board voted 9-7-1 in favor of the boutique hotel project on the western end of trendy Abbot Kinney Boulevard in front of a sometimes unruly standing-room-only audience. The 67-room hotel was proposed by property owner Dan Abrams who addressed the crowd of about 300 people inside the Westminster Avenue Elementary School auditorium. “I am not a develolper, I am an entrepreneur and film producer,” said Abrams, who has lived in Venice for more than 10 years. The project’s architect David Hertz...

By Paul Chavez, Venice Dispatch The Venice Neighborhood Council’s Land Use and Planning Committee heard three presentations at its Oct. 17 meeting, including plans for a 24-hour restaurant at the busy corner of Lincoln and Venice boulevards. A proposal was presented for a 3,717-square-feet House of Pies to be built at 1020 Venice Blvd., a vacant lot that was a longtime gas station before becoming a local spot to buy Christmas trees. The restaurant would have 116 seats, including 17 patio spaces. The owner, Vic Watana, plans to seek permission to operate 24 hours and supply a full line of alcohol. Watana owns the 24-hour House of Pies on 1869 N. Vermont Ave. in Los Feliz as well as two...

By Paul Chavez, Venice Dispatch The West Los Angeles Area Planning Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve a two-story redevelopment project on a quiet walk-street near Abbot Kinney Boulevard after the owner acquiesced to changes sought by neighbors. The board voted 4-0 to approve a project permit for the demolition of two existing single-family dwelling units at 1627 So. Crescent Pl. and the construction of a new two-story single-family dwelling on the lot. The project by applicant Rodger Klein had been appealed by walk-street neighbors Gigi Gaston, a writer-director whose mother was the last wife of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, and her partner Sophie B. Hawkins, a singer best known for her 1992 hit “Damn I...

By Paul Chavez, Venice Dispatch The Venice Neighborhood Council has invited longtime incumbent Rep. Henry Waxman, a Democrat, and Bill Bloomfield, his independent challenger in the upcoming general election, to the Oct. 23 meeting of the council’s board of directors. Waxman, 73, has represented the Westside in Congress since 1975 and was the top vote-getter with 45.3 percent in the June primary for the newly drawn 33rd Congressional District. Waxman moved from his 30th Congressional District to the 33rd District after once-a-decade redistricting altered district boundaries to reflect population changes. The new 33rd Congressional includes Venice and runs south along the coast into the more conservative South Bay all the way to Palos Verdes. Bloomfield is a former...